In this Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013 photo, a deserted train station is covered by snow in an area devastated by the March 11 2011 earthquake and tsunami, in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture. Japan's progress in rebuilding from the tsunami that thundered over coastal sea walls, sweeping entire communities away, is mainly measured in barren foundations and empty spaces. Clearing of forests on higher ground due to be leveled to make space for relocating survivors has barely begun. Japan will next week observes two years from the March 11, 2011 disasters which devastated in the northeastern Pacific coast of the country. (AP Photo/Junji Kurokawa)

Japan's barren tsunami coast still reeling

•March 5, 2013

In dozens of towns along the country's northeastern Pacific coast, from

tiny Ryoishi in the north to Fukushima farther south, where some areas

remain off-limits due to radiation fears, the tsunami zone remains a wasteland. Scattered along the coast are huge piles of rubble and stacks of smashed scooters and cars.